The Acceptance Of The Green Girdle In Sir Gawain's

Sir Gawain is known for his knightly integrity, but by failing to uphold his agreement with Lord Bertilak, he is demonstrating that human perfection is impossible to maintain. By failing to give the girdle to Lord Bertilak-when he returns from his hunting trip, Sir Gawain is not abiding by

​In the beginning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain is introduced as a courtly knight with a sense of perfection. The author does this to compare it to his failures, which are later displayed through Gawain’s acts at Morgan le Fay’s castle. Gawain is portrayed to be a chivalrous knight with honor and courage. Gawain is presented with a challenge: accept the game to cut off the Green Knight’s head, and in a test of courage and honor, set out to allow the Green Knight to return the favor to him in a year and a day. This initially shows the knightly characteristics of Gawain which presents him as noble and honorable, which allows the author to shock the audience when Gawain falls under pressure to actions that contradict the chivalrous code. The first of these actions taken by Gawain in opposition to his morals is the temptation

The girdle embodies a supernatural power held by Lady Bertilak. Sheila Fisher indicates that “This shifting of blame and power is demonstrated through the path the girdle takes as a symbol and who it is associated with” (90). While the girdle holds a power which would save Gawain’s life, it also encloses a certain degree of blame. Because of this, he will have to carry the burden of shame for the rest of his life by having accepted her

Sir Gawain could be the noblest knight in all the land and he still made a mistake. When it came time to face the Green Knight, what was ultimately offered was mercy. Gawain received a nick on his neck for making the mistake of not giving the Lord the green girdle he received, breaking the deal they had, and still walking away with his life. Gawain was extremely hard on himself for breaking his word, as a knight he is expected to be honorable at all times. Because of this reputation it was hard for Sir Gawain to accept that he made a mistake. Because of this, he took the green girdle to wear as a symbol of his fault and was honored by his fellow knights because of

The ultimate boon is the girdle that was given to Gawain by the Host’s wife. On the third day that Gawain is staying with the Host he is given a green girdle by the Host’s wife that is said to protect the person wearing it; knowing that he will meet with the Green Knight the next day, he selfishly keeps the girdle without telling the Host. The next day Gawain meets with the Green Knight to complete the challenge that was presented to him in the beginning of the poem. However, since the Green Knight knows that Gawain broke the deal with the Host he cuts Gawain on the third swing of his sword. The three swings symbolize the three days Gawain stayed at the castle. The first two swings don't touch him because he kept his part of the deal. On the third swing he is cut, this symbolizes the third day when he keeps the girdle and breaks his part of the deal.

Sacrifice is a quality that many people choose to ignore. But Sir Gawain magnified this virtue to its extent, even to the brink of death. When the Green Knight challenged the knights of King Arthur for a game, and King Arthur volunteered, it was Sir Gawain who stepped in. Gawain takes on the Green Knight game and goes for the blow. Gawain chops off the Green Knight’s head, but in shocking disbelief, the Green Knight picks up his head and gives a speech. The Green Knight then instructs Gawain to get his way to the Green Chapel to receive his blow in return. Lines (347-350) states, “For I find it

Sir Gawain has the ability to do something that frightens one proving his courage. In the text, it states “those who were not [married] prayed that the young man’s courage would not desert him” (Hastings 2) demonstrating his lack of fear. His [Sir Gawain’s] top priority is to serve his king in which he is always the first to do so as Sir

The ideas of loyalty a person bears ultimately enables them to decipher who they really are and move them to better understand themselves. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain finds himself straying from his loyalness out of fear that he might die because of The Green Knight. After he uses the girdle and The Green Knight confronts him about it, Gawain feels instant regret as he says

Despite the guide’s convincing statements, Gawain continues on. Here, Gawain values honor more than his life. This is one side of Gawain; the side that believes the importance of duty surpasses that of one’s life. On the other side is a frightened Gawain that believes the gift of life is greater in value to the honor one may receive. A known example of this is when he accepts the girdle from Lady Bertilak, believing it may offer him protection. Knowing how Gawain thinks, he still would have gone on had he not taken an extra precaution. However, an opportunity to save his life is too good to pass, especially when he is close to death, and he snatches it up.

Sir Gawain is reluctant to accept the Green Knight’s challenge. He fears for his life. In the end he only accepts the challenge to protect King Arthur’s life and honor. He knows it is his duty to protect King Arthur, but only volunteers to do so at the last second. Sir Gawain also breaks his oath to the Lord of the castle he is staying in. He broke their vow to trade whatever they had earned during the day when he keeps a sash the Lady of the castle gives him because he believes it will protect him during his battle with the Green Knight.

Gawain however will not coward out and will remain loyal to the agreement and shrugs off the warning. He eventually runs into the Green Chapel and calls out for the Green Knight. The Green Knight takes three swings at Gawain purposefully missing the first two, and then nipping the neck of Gawain on the third blow. Gawain, not harmed, arose and requested to fight the Green Knight drawing his sword. The Green Knight says he didn’t want to fight only because Gawain has fulfilled the agreement already. He explains that he spared Gawain the first two times for receiving the kisses back from him but the third blow was for not returning the Green Girdle he received. Gawain was thankful and explained that women were the reason for men’s downfall giving examples. The Green Knight introduces himself as Lord Bertilak and explained the Old lady whose face was covered was his Aunt Morgan Le Fay, Merlin’s apprentice, and that he had a spell cast on him. He says the main reason he came to King Arthur’s court was Morgan Le Fay’s plan to scare Queen Guinevere to death. He asked Gawain to come and stay at his castle because he is loved there but he declines and rides back to Camelot with The Girdle under his left arm to show that he committed fault to enemies back along the way as well as the

During the journey that Sir Gawain must go on in order to find the Green Knight he undergoes multiple “tests”. These “tests” range from the fact that he is all by himself and doesn’t know where the Green Knight lives as well as the test of once he finds the Green Knight his death is only moments away. The final and ultimate test that Sir Gawain had to go through was at the castle with the Lord’s wife. While the Lord was out hunting on the first day of Gawain’s stay, his wife tried to seduce Gawain and continues throughout his stay by stealing a kiss which then turns to multiple kisses, from Gawain. I believe that Sir Gawain has passed all the “tests” that he is faced with during his journey. He doesn’t give up the search to find the Green knight

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain courageously steps up to play the green knight’s game. The green knight clearly lays out the terms of the game to Sir Gawain: Sir Gawain can give the green knight any blow with any weapon and a year later the green knight will return the same blow. A year passes and Sir Gawain boldly puts on his armor and embarks on his journey to receive his return blow. After traveling for months, Sir Gawain stumbles upon a castle where he is graciously welcomed. The significant change in clothing of Sir Gawain from armor to soft clothing suggests a failure to the expectations placed upon him by his pentangle and allegiance to Camelot.

As Sir Gawain presses on in his search for the Green Chapel, he faces numerous physical challenges. Yet he overcomes them all to the point that "to tell but the tenth part would tax my wits" (1719) as he has countless battles with serpents, wolves, and the like. The true challenges come after he arrives at Bercilak's castle. There, he is tempted three times by Lady Bercilak's advances--yet he does not give in to her advances, nor spurn her completely in an uncourtly manner. Further, he does not accept her gift of the ring which she offers as a remembrance. However, when she offers her green girdle, proclaiming its properties of protection:

In order for Sir Gawain to fulfill his contract he needed the Green Knight to hit his skin. Since the first two hit did nothing, the third hit finally drew some blood from Sir Gawain. Once all of that is done, he had shown himself to be proven as a worthy knight. The cost of Gawain’s failure is when the Green Knight revealed his name and told Sir Gawain that he is not completely honest, especially with the last day of the exchange. Due to Sir Gawain being honest later, Bertilak told him, “God bless you for this gift/